Maternal Love
by kevin the bird
Summary: "You got her to go to sleep?" Fred asked, surprised at how quickly that happened. "Yeah," Lucille said as she laughed at Fred's surprised expression. "Damn maternal love," Fred said teasingly.


Fred forgot how hard it was to bring out a child in public because he rarely ever did it. With Maggie being a year old, there wasn't much he could do and he also worked a lot, so when had time to spend with his daughter, he preferred to do it as his house, where both him and Maggie where comfortable. But every once in a while, when he was free on the weekend, he would go on a family outing with his brother and sister-in-law. That Saturday, they decided they would get lunch at the local bar. It was close to both his house and Henry and Lucille's. So if something happened or they decided to go to one of their houses, they where close. Fred was close to leaving his brother and sister-in-law because he couldn't get Maggie to stop crying. He tried everything that normally worked, and nothing seemed to help. She hadn't slept very well the night before, so she was tired. He tried softly talking to her while he bounced her around softly, he tried rocking softly in his chair while she sat on his lap comfortablly and nothing worked. The people around the Langston family where starting to get annoyed by the loud cries of Maggie. Finally, Lucille offered to take her. She often took care of Maggie when Fred was off at work, so her and her husband spent a lot of time with the young girl. She had stepped in as a mother figure when Barbara had died. She had no intention of replacing Barbara, but Maggie needed a mother figure in her life and Lucille was the perfect person to do it. She was accessible and she was always willing to do it.

"Hand her to me, Fred," Lucille said softly as she opened her arms up so Fred could pass Maggie to her. Fred looked at Lucille and just shook his head.

"You do enough, Luce," he said. "I'll get her to stop crying." Fred owed Lucille so much for all the things she had done for Maggie, but he didn't want her to feel obligated.

"Fred, honey," Lucille said. She had to laugh because Fred was so stubborn, much like her own husband. "You know I don't mind." Fred just looked at Lucille and then obliged, handing his daughter to her. When Maggie was sitting in her lap, facing her, Lucille smiled at the girl who was like a daughter to her. "Hi, sweetheart," she said. Maggie immediately stopped crying when she was in Lucille's loving embrace and she looked up at the woman who was like a mother to her, softly smiling back at her. All she needed was the maternal love that the only maternal person in her life could give to her. She scooted closer to Lucille's body, leaned hers against Lucille's and relaxed when Lucille wrapped her protective arms around Maggie's body. There was an audible sigh of relief from the people around them when the crying stopped. Lucille smiled down at Maggie, whose eyes where already dropping, and she let her arms relax against Maggie's back lovingly. "You're tired aren't you, Mags?" Lucille asked softly as she kissed the top of her head. She started to rub Maggie's back comfortingly, drawing Maggie even closer to sleep. Fred watched the entire thing, relief rushing through his entire body. They hadn't even gotten their lunch yet, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to manage a crying baby for the entire afternoon.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," he said while he had the chance. He figured he would do it now before he had Maggie back. Lucille smiled up at Fred as he went to the bathroom. Lucille looked at Henry and both of them laughed. A woman sitting next to them had also been watching the entire thing.

"Is she yours?" she asked. Lucille looked over at the woman who asked the question and smiled.

"No, she's my niece," she replied as she turned her attention to the baby who was in her lap and close to sleep.

"You'd never know you two weren't mother and daughter," the woman said as she laughed. Lucille looked back at the woman and smiled again.

"It's like she's mine," Lucille said as she let out a laugh. "Her mother died last year," she added, a bit softer now that the subject had been brought up. Henry leaned over and grabbed a hold of her hand, knowing how hard the subject was. Not only had they lost a sister-in-law, but also they had lost their own child. The woman gave them a sad smile.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Anyway, I'll leave you guys alone. I'll let you enjoy her sleeping while you have the chance," she added as she laughed. Silence fell over the area where the Langston family was sitting and both Lucille and Henry looked at Maggie.

"Is she asleep?" Henry asked as he rubbed the top of Lucille's hand lovingly with his thumb.

"Yeah," Lucille said softly as she looked up at her husband and smiled happily. It was nice for Lucille to have someone who needed her. Sure, it was under a pretext that the entire family wasn't happy about, what with two family members being dead and all, but the little girl that was asleep in Lucille's lap had brought them closer to each other then ever before.

"She just needed some of her surrogate mother's love," Henry said, noticing the subtle happiness in his wife, and leaning over and kissing her softly. Lucille laughed as she kissed her husband back and as if Fred knew what was going on, he walked over to the table.

"Not in front of my daughter!" he said teasingly. They pulled away and Henry glared at his brother.

"She's sleeping," Lucille said. She laughed at the communication between brothers over her and Henry showing affection for each other.

"You got her to go to sleep?" Fred asked, surprised at how quickly that happened.

"Yeah," Lucille said as she laughed at Fred's surprised expression.

"Damn maternal love," Fred said teasingly. There had been so many times over the past year where he had gone to Lucille because of her maternal instinct and everything that came with the maternal love only a mother could give. It was always his last resort, but it worked like a charm.

"That maternal love has saved your butt so many times," Lucille retorted back in the same teasing tone that Fred had used.

"I know," Fred said as he squatted down next to Lucille's chair and softly rubbed Maggie's back with his hand. Lucille had stopped when Henry had grabbed her hand earlier and her hands where now resting against Maggie's butt. "And I'm forever grateful," he added as he stood up and sat back down in his chair. Lucille smiled at her brother-in-law. She never felt like she _had _to take care of Maggie when Fred couldn't. It was something she loved to do and something she would always love, which Fred took advantage of over the years.

_fin_

**a/n: **the inspiration for this fic is in my bio. so s/o to kim k!


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